Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Housing and Urban Development) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I ask the minister: what action has he taken, on top of the $3.2 million he is providing for the orange-bellied parrot, for the 16 other animals assessed under the law as being critically endangered? Why is it, Minister, that since you took an active interest in the orange-bellied parrot its survival chances have dramatically declined to the point where it has now become critically endangered? Is this because the minister is still looking for an environmental cover for his blatant political decisions to veto the Bald Hills wind farm? When will the minister start taking a balanced approach rather than a marginal seats approach to guiding his decisions on threatened species?